Wheel-tire



'0. HOPKINS.

WHEEL TIRE APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20,1919.

1,371,095, Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

A TTURNE Y8 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WHEEL-TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

Application filed June 20, 1919. Serial No. 305,564.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORSON HOPKINS, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Argusville, in the county of Schoharie and State of New Yorkhave invented a new and Improved Wheel-Tire, of which the follow; ing isa clear, full, and exact description.

My invention relates to wheel tires, my more particular purpose being toprovide a device of this character possessing certain mechanicaladvantages, among them being resilience, reduction in liability topuncture, and prevention of one part of the tire from shifting laterallyin relation to another part.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification in which like characters of reference indicate like partsthroughout the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view partly in elevation and partly broken away,showing the mechanism of my device.

Fig. 2 is a substantially central vertical iection through the mechanismshown in An annular member 3 of sheet metal engages another annularmember 4 also of sheet metal, this last-mentioned member beingbent overat its edges so that the latter overlap the adjacent edges of the member3 thus forming substantially a hollow ring. Located within this ringwhich is of sheet metal is a metallic ring 6 of more massive form. Thisring carries a number of supporting blocks, one of which is shown at 7.The supporting block is secured to the ring 6 by bolts 8 and is providedwith slanting surfaces 10 as indicated more particularly as in Fig. 1.The supporting block 7 is further provided with slanting surfaces 8shorter than the surfaces 9 and joining the same or rather forming acontinuation thereof. Engaging the slanting sides 9 and 10 of thesupporting blocks 7 are rollers 11 carried by swinging brackets 12 anddisposed upon opposite sides of the block. The swinging brackets 12 aremounted upon pivot pins 13, the latter being supported upon a bracket14. This bracket is fitted in position upon a ring 14*, the latterengaging and being concentric to another ring 14 which serves thepurpose of a tire frame and may be of any desired thickness. Securedrigidly upon the bracket 14 and disposed from opposite sides of thesupporting block 7 are two guidin posts 16 between which the supportingb ock is adapted to brackets 12 by compressing the springs 19 maybe'moved away from each other by the play of the supporting block 7.Normally the rollers 11 engage this supporting block at its narrowestpart as indicated in Fig. 1. When, however, the supporting block isforced downwardly according to this figure,

the rollers 11 are merely forced farther apart so as to compress thesprings 19. Thus, the

ring 6 and all parts connected rigidly therewith are, as a unit, movablerelatively to the outer or peripheral portions of the wheel. The guideposts 16 are provided with compartments 21 and housed therein areantifriction balls 22 which engage the adjacent sides of the supportingblock 7 and also the corresponding portions of the guide posts 16 thatis, at the boundings of the compartments 21. The balls are free to rollup and down and by so doing they relieve the friction otherwise presentbetween the supporting block 7 and the guiding posts 16.

Connected to the ring 14 are side walls 25, 26, made of sheet metal andprovided with inwardly bent flanges 27, 28, which extend toward and intoclose proximity to the sides of the supporting block 7. Two guard strips29, 30 made of rubber are secured in position upon the ring member 4 bystrips 31, 32 of steel. These strips are each of annular form and areheld in position by aid of bolts 33. The bottom edges of the guardstrips 29, 30 are held in position by steel strips 35 through whichbolts 34 extend.

The strips 31 are concealed, as the guard strips 29 are bent outwardlyover them as may be understood from Fig. 2.

The operation of my tire is as follows: The parts being assembled andarranged as above set forth and as shown in the drawing, the rolling ofthe wheel upon the ground with the weight at the mlddle portion of thewheel gives the latter tendency to go downwardly. Because of thistendency, the spacing block 7 rides downwardly a little between therollers 11. These rollers because of their side pressure, under tensionof the springs 19, tend to resiliently resist the downward thrust orpressure of the supporting blocks 7 Thus, the wheel has considerableresilienc I As indicated in l ig. 4 any springing sidewise upon one artof the rim relatively to the other part as no tendency to dislocate thevarious parts as the supporting block 7 cannot move laterally on accountof the guiding post 16. a

The rubber guard strips 29, 30 have suflicient resiliency to allow themotions above described to take place, the distortion of the wheel asseen by the eye being negligible or at least no greater than thedistortion of ordinary pneumatic tires.

I do not limit myself to the precise construction shown as variationsmay be made therefrom without departing from the spirit of my invention.v

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A device of the character described comprising an annular member, apair of guide posts mounted thereupon and extending radially inwardtherefrom, each of said guide posts being provided with a recess, ananti-friction ball located in said recess, a supporting block locatedbetween said guiding post and engaging the anti-friction ball, saidsupporting block having inclined sides, anti-friction rollers engagingsaid inclined sides, brackets carrying said rollers, springs engagingsaid brackets for forcing same against said inclined sides, and an innerannular member mounted upon said supporting block and movable relativeto said first mentioned annular member.

2. A device of the character described comprising an annular tiremember, a bracket secured'thereto and provided with an upwardlyextending portion, an arm pivotally mounted upon sald bracket, a springengaging said arm and also engaging said upwardly extending portion ofsaid bracket, a roller carried by said arm,'a supporting block providedwith an inclined surface engaging said roller, and an annular membercarrying said supporting block and movable relative to saidfirst-mentioned annular member.

3. A device of the character described momprising an inner annularmember, an outer annular member, a pair of swinging arms mounted uponsaid outer annular memher and movable relatively toward each other,rollers carried by said arms, a supporting block carried by said innerannular member and engaging said rollers, and mechanism carried by saidouter annular member for pressing resiliently against said swinging arm.

4. A device of the character described comprising a hollow annularmember, a rin carried thereby, a supporting block secure to said ringand extending outwardly there- A from, said supporting block beingprovided with inclined sides, an atmular tire member encircling saidhollow annular member, a pair of swinging arms carried by said annulartire member and disposed upon opposite sides of said supporting block,rollers carried by said swinging arms and engaging the inclined sldes ofthe swinglng block, and means for forcing sald swinging arms toward saidsupportin block.

onsou HOPKINS

